


Far Too Young to Die

by SniperMoran



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Loss, M/M, Sadness, ghost!Marco AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 10:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2106885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SniperMoran/pseuds/SniperMoran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(The title is taken from a Panic! At the Disco song, but the story itself doesn't really have anything to do with the song. It's just the song from my Jean/Marco playlist that happened to come into my head while writing this.)</p><p>Marco Bott and Jean Kirstein are best friends. They have always had each others' backs. But now, Marco turns up dead and Jean is lost in the world, devoting himself to trying to make Marco proud of him. All the while, he doesn't notice the freckled ghost that follows him around, helping him out where he can as he had in life.</p><p>Not even death can keep Marco from being there for the man he loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Far Too Young to Die

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@CowboyBodt](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40CowboyBodt).



> So, this is my first AOT/SNK official fanfic. A friend of mine on twitter has inspired me to start writing again and one thing led to another and I was inspired to write this. I really hope she enjoys it!  
> Oh, and everyone else too!

As he opened his eyes, darkness faded and the world around him came back into view. He blinked a few times, the smoke and ash filling the air making it hard to see clearly. Then sounds started to reach his ears. Cries and screams, cracks and crashes. The whooshing sounds of the omni-directional gear of his fellow cadets and soldiers.

It was only then that his thoughts veered off. With all the recent chaos...he hadn't been able to join a proper branch of the military. He was still merely a cadet. His dreams of Military Police had long left him behind. He couldn't idly sit by in the comforts of Wall Sina after witnessing all that he had, learning all that he had and experiencing all that he had. Perhaps he wouldn't go as far as Eren to joining the Scouting Legion, but Military Police was no longer an option in his mind.

"Marco!" came a cry, breaking the freckled cadet from his thoughts. The voice was familiar and nearby. Trying to blink smoke from his eyes to see where the voice had come from, he noticed something...odd.

He couldn't quite feel his body. He couldn't feel what he was on, ground or roof. Grass? He couldn't feel his body the way he normally could. Couldn't feel the weight of his limbs. He couldn't explain the odd sensation though. It was almost like being completely numb, but even then when you were completely numb, you could feel the weight of the limbs that you didn't have any sense in.

"....Marco..." the voice breathed, closer now. The smoke cleared a bit and from it, Jean appeared, mask over his nose and mouth to prevent smoke and ash inhalation. That's when he realized...he hadn't noticed until seeing that mask on Jean's face...how was he breathing so clearly without choking on smoke and ash in the air?  "Marco I...I'm..." Jean's voice sounded broken and sad, and his eyes matched that deduction.

But why was he so sad? Had something bad happened? Had Eren been unable to seal the hole in the gate? Had his 'Titan Powers' failed them? Had they lost one of their close friends?

He wasn't in a panic, so the freckled boy went on the assumption that it was the last guess. They must have lost someone close to them. One of the cadets from their graduating class? Searching for his voice to ask, he swallowed heavily, watching Jean for any signs of who it might have been...

"I'm so sorry it's like this, Marco..." he whispered quietly, falling to his knees, holding his head. "I...I don't even know what happened...I don't know what did this, or how, or....or why! You deserve better..." his shoulders were trembling as he reached the end of his statement, his voice cracking. "Marco..." he whimpered, squeezing his eyes closed to fight back the tears that were burning there.

Frowning, Marco reached out to Jean, confused by his best friend's words and actions and that's when he saw it. The body up against the wall. His translucent hand and arm, reaching out to Jean to try and comfort his crying friend.

Eyes widening, breath quickening and the sound of white noise making his ears pound, Marco let out a loud cry. He didn't know what else to do. His body lie there, against the wall, mangled and torn. His best friend knelt before said body, crying and falling apart from the seams. For once in a very long time of knowing Jean, there was nothing the freckled boy could do but cry out.

Jean didn't stir, didn't jump, didn't look up to face him. It was as though he...

"Jean...Jean, can you hear me...?" his voice was weak and soft but the space around them was quiet, save for the occasional distant cry from others finding loved ones' bodies mangled and broken and beyond repair.

There was no response form the man on his knees. No sign that he had even heard the desperate words directed towards him. He stayed there on his knees for a while, shoulders shaking. Marco carefully lowered himself, once he realized he was floating, to kneel beside Jean, resting a translucent hand on his shoulder. ...or rather, trying to. He settled for letting it hover in the place just over Jean's shoulder, as each attempt to place it on the physical body of his friend, caused his hand to go right through him. With his hand hovering in place, his friend unable to hear, see, or feel him, he was left with nothing he could do to comfort his best friend as he watched him mourn the body that was once Marco Bott.

It was a strange, hollow feeling. There was cold, but there was a hint of warmth. There was sadness, with a hint of joy. It was always a human curiosity about what was beyond death. Marco recalled a few times when things seemed like they would be over and he asked himself if anyone would be there for his death. If anyone would be there to remember him. And here was Jean, not only there for him, remembering him, but crying for him. Marco's eyes watered slightly at the thought.

It was a few hours before his body was moved and Jean followed the cart back to the interior. That night, the bodies of all those who had fallen were burned. Jean was there, right at the front, shadows cast from the fire danced on his face as he fought back tears. The fire glistened in his wet eyes. The operation had been successful. For the time being, the hole was sealed and humanity had made it's first victory step against the titans. But Jean didn't care about that right now. The only thing that mattered was the fire before him, the ashes being thrown into the sky as the fire popped. The ashes were all he had left...

Marco watched from a distance, not wanting to watch the fire, not wanting to watch his own body burn. He was also still getting used to the idea of...being dead. The dark haired, freckled ghost stood and watched, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, letting out a heavy sigh. "Well...looks like I went and got myself hurt..." he murmured, trying to lighten the situation for himself. He needed to do something to keep his calm.

"But...at least Jean is safe..." he added quietly, floating there, watching as his best friend fell apart as the fires died, becoming nothing but smoldering embers. That was all that was left of him now. Some smoldering embers that Jean was crying over. He was somehow unphased when he felt his eyes burning, tears rolling down his transparent, freckled cheeks.

"Jean...I'm...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry I left you like this...I left so soon...but I'm here. I won't go anywhere I...I'm always going to be at your side. I promise!" he called, knowing his promise would go unheard to the ear's that he wished it would reach.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, let me know what you think, and please be honest, feedback is awesome! Hopefully I'll be updating the chapters weekly, or I'm at least going to try.


End file.
